Muggle Stories
by thegirlwhoknew
Summary: Hermione introduces Harry to the Hunger Games. But Ron feels a little left out... Rated K for swearing in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm sorry if you find this chapter a bit boring – there's no real action. Hopefully there will be in further chapters.**

**I own none of this. Just in case you were wondering. **

**Warning – if you haven't read 'The Hunger Games' and plan to, don't read this because it will contain spoilers. **

**Set in the fifth year of the trio. Hermione lends Harry 'The Hunger Games' to read. But when Ron begins to feel a left out, what will happen? **

It was late at night and the only two people left in the Gryffindor common room were Hermione and Harry.

'Hey, Hermione,' said Harry. 'Do you mind helping me with-Hermione? Are you there?'

Hermione dragged her head away from her book and sighed. 'What is it, Harry?'

'I need help with my Potions essay.'

'Can it wait? I'm just reading a really good book at the moment.'

'But Hermione, it's due tomorrow, first thing, and it's 11 at night.'

Hermione didn't reply. She was completely engrossed in her book. Harry looked at her in disbelief and grabbed the book. 'Harry! You've lost my page!'

Harry wasn't looking at her anymore. He was looking at the book.

'Mockingjay,' he read, 'by Suzanne Collins.' He flipped the book over. 'Hermione, this is fiction! Since when do you read non-factual books?'

'It's really good, Harry. My parents recommended it to me. It's the third in the series.'

'"If we burn, you burn with us". What sort of a book is this? It looks terrible!'

'It's really good!' Hermione protested. 'I've got the first one. You should read it.'

Harry flipped through the book, stopping randomly. '"Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake."' Harry sniggered.

Hermione frowned and grabbed _Mockingjay_. 'I'll be reading that, thanks.' She marched off towards the girls dormitory.

Harry groaned and focused his attention once more on his essay. He was likely to fail without Hermione's help.

* * *

The next morning, Harry handed in his Potions essay to Professor Snape with a sinking feeling in his stomach. The essay was not nearly as good as Snape wanted the essays to be. At least Ron would fail with him. Hermione wouldn't though.

'Please help me next time, Hermione,' Harry muttered. Hermione snapped her head around to glare at him. 'I'll help you with your homework, if you read _The Hunger Games_.'

'Fine then,' said Harry, 'I will.'

That afternoon, he ignored his Transfiguration homework, and began to read _The Hunger Games_. He expected himself to either become really bored with the book, since it was Hermione's book, and everyone knew she never read anything interesting, or hate it completely because it was a Muggle book.

But instead he found himself becoming drawn into the story. His heart sped up as Katniss and Prim approached the square to the reaping. He gasped when Prim was reaped, then let his breath out slowly as Katniss volunteered.

Harry looked up from the book briefly to see Hermione and Ron sitting together, laughing and looking at him.

'What are you looking at?' he said slightly rudely.

Hermione and Ron burst out laughing again. 'It was your expression, mate,' said Ron. 'You looked like you were horrified about something.'

'I'm reading, all right?' Harry said shortly.

Hermione giggled. 'Last time I checked, you thought _The Hunger Games_ looked terrible.'

'Sh.' Harry said, concentrating hard.

Harry read through the night, determined to finish this book. He sat in the common room in a comfortable armchair in front of the fire. He finished at around 2am. He slowly closed the book, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Then he was silent. He stayed up the rest of the night, just thinking about the book. He couldn't wait until he could talk about it with Hermione.

When Hermione came downstairs into the common room, she found Harry waiting for her.

'Oh, hi Harry!' she said. 'You're up early.'

'I-I…' began Harry, his voice dry from the drama of the book. He cleared his throat. 'I finished it.'

Hermione grinned, 'did you like it?'

'Did I like it? Oh my goodness, Hermione, it was amazing! But it was so sad! I mean, Rue! And I felt really bad for Gale. Peeta's so - I don't know - just so … annoyingly good! I hate President Snow! And I kind of like Effie. And I like how Haymitch turns out to be quite nice, even if he is drunk. Also, Cinna is really cool. You know which deaths I hated? Cato and Glimmer's. And Clove's. But they were all the bad guys. So I didn't mind. But- Rue! And - and - ' Harry ran out of things to say. He looked over at Hermione, who was holding in giggles.

'I've never heard you talk so much - let alone about a _book. _But what I don't understand most of all is how you can prefer Gale to Peeta.'

An argument ensued, Hermione arguing Peeta's side, Harry Gale's.

They were so carried away that they forgot to wait for Ron, and just began walking towards the Great Hall for breakfast. They sat down and just kept on talking. Soon Ron arrived, who shot them both, in particular Harry, bewildered glances.

'What's happening?' he asked Lavender, confused.

She giggled, fluttering her eyelashes at Ron. 'No idea!'

Ron, bemused, struck up a conversation with Lavender, who looked pleased.

* * *

As Harry and Hermione stood up to go to their next class, Potions, Ron excused himself and leapt up from the table following them. He was annoyed to find that they were still talking about that book. _The Hungry Games_ or something like that. Stupid book. And to set it all off, it was a Muggle book too. As if they would read something like that.

Ron hurried up and pushed himself in between Harry and Hermione. 'Hi!' he said loudly, grinning. Harry looked at him frowning. 'I just forgot what I was going to say, Ron.' Hermione glared at him, 'Next time, can you look and check if we're having a conversation first please? Because that was quite annoying.'

'Fine!' Ron said, 'I'm sorry for interrupting your _special _book talk.' They had arrived at the dungeons. Snape was already there.

Harry and Hermione swept past Ron and sat at a table together. Ron looked over at them, not really wanting to join them. Suddenly Lavender appeared behind him. Ron looked at her. He let her walk past him, then followed her to the table she chose to sit at.

_There, _Ron thought, _now Harry and Hermione will apologize because they'll miss me, and they'll stop talking about the _bloody _book. _

But when Ron looked over, Harry and Hermione hadn't even noticed.

**Thanks for reading, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, thanks for reading! Sorry, this is quite a short chapter. I'll hopefully update this again soon, but first I'm going to be looking over a chapter for my Victoire/Teddy fic. So it may be a few days before I update again. **

**Thanks heaps to Zire-7 for reviewing (and also to some guests). Um, I'm kind of suspicious that it's the same guest who reviewed three times, please don't; there's no need. If it wasn't the same guest – I'm sorry. :D **

**Despite what I just said – I like reviews, I'm just paranoid that only two people actually reviewed. **

**So please review! And enjoy.**

* * *

Lavender glanced over at Ron, noticing that he looked upset. 'Ron!' she whispered. 'What's up?'

Failing to realise in his sulk that Snape had begun the lesson, Ron said back, irritated, 'Nothing's up!'

'5 points from Gryffindor,' said Snape smoothly. 'If you would kindly _shut your mouth _while I'm talking, Mr Weasley.'

Lavender blushed. She was responsible for Ron talking out of turn. Obviously something was up.

'It wasn't his fault, sir.' Lavender said. 'I spoke to him first.'

'In that case,' said Snape, smiling nastily, 'A further 5 points from Gryffindor because you spoke when I was talking too.'

Draco Malfoy laughed out loud. Ron looked over at him, ears red with rage. 'Shut up, Malfoy,' Ron said loudly.

Snape didn't miss this. 'Pick up your books, Weasley, and go and sit next to Draco. I think it's best that you're separated from your _girlfriend _for a lesson.'

Both Ron _and _Lavender blushed this time. Ron angrily grabbed his stuff and thumped it down next to Malfoy.

Hermione for the first time had dragged herself away from her whispered conversation with Harry, at the mention of Ron and Lavender being a couple. She looked at Ron with narrowed eyes. He _couldn't _be Lavender's boyfriend. She was an idiot! And he was Ron, for God's sake! Hermione didn't like to admit it to herself, let alone to others, but she liked Ron. As Ron glared back at her, Hermione's stomach sank.

Looking over at Harry and Hermione, Ron saw that Hermione was finally looking at him. Before Ron could feel happy that she had finally noticed him, she was frowning in a very disapproving way. He supposed she was angry that he had lost Gryffindor house points.

It was none of her business anyway! Ron thought, glaring back at Hermione. She should just go and-

'Angry, Weasley?' It was Malfoy, whispering to Ron.

'What do you want?'

'Are you angry?' Malfoy repeated.

'Well, yeah,' said Ron, 'because I have to sit next to _you.'_

'Not because Potter and Granger have been ignoring you?'

Ron narrowed his eyes. 'What are you talking about?'

'Look, I hate Potter too. I think we should get revenge.'

Ron raised his eyebrows. 'We? What makes you think I want to do anything with _you?'_

'I have an idea,' said Draco. 'Meet me outside the dungeons at 10 tonight. I'll discuss it with you.'

'How do I know you're not going to be waiting there with some of your friends to hex me?'

Malfoy smirked, 'You're just going to have to trust me, Weasley.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. In this chapter, Ron and Draco partner up to get revenge on Harry and Hermione. **

**Thanks for reading, please review etc.**

**Thanks to Kitty, and Zire-7, haha, you make me laugh.**

* * *

At 9:30pm, Harry decided to go up to bed from the Gryffindor common room. He was exhausted from the day of reading and discussing with Hermione, so he finally excused himself, taking with him _Catching Fire, _the next book in the _Hunger Games _series. Hermione had gone up to her own dormitory about half an hour before, and there was no one left in the common room except for Ron. 'You coming, Ron?' asked Harry. They were the first words he had spoken to Ron since before Potions. Ron glanced at Harry rudely, and then looked towards the fire without a word. Harry took it as a no. 'Um, well, good-night.' Harry contemplated apologising to Ron, but decided against it, thinking that he didn't _really _have anything to apologise for.

As soon as Harry had turned out of sight, Ron stood up from the armchair abruptly and left the common room, ignoring the protestations of the Fat Lady ('Hey! What are you doing? You can't just...!').

Ron walked as quietly as he could down the deserted corridor, pulling out the Marauders Map and Harry's invisibility cloak (he had Summoned both off Harry's bedside table). As he pulled the cloak on, he opened up the map and after whispering, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' he examined the area around the dungeons, scanning the map for Malfoy.

Sure enough, pair of feet labelled 'Draco Malfoy' was standing still outside the dungeons. Ron guessed that he was leaning on the statue of Salazar Slytherin that was metres away from the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He remembered the statue from second year, when he and Harry had disguised themselves as Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron soon arrived in front of Salazar's statue, pulling off Harry's invisibility cloak, and looked at it with suspicion. _Where was Malfoy?_ Ron's doubts that had faded when he had seen Malfoy's name on the Marauders Map, were back again with reinforcements. Maybe he was going to hex him. Ron cursed himself for being so stupid.

Now Malfoy would boast about tricking Weasley into meeting him.

As Ron began to check behind Slytherin's statue, he laid a hand upon the shoulder of the statue to support his weight. To Ron's surprise, he felt flesh and Malfoy laughed.

Ron jumped backwards, gasping loudly.

Draco Malfoy appeared suddenly, out of thin air.

Ron's face turned a shade of purple and began to splutter, 'what the… that - where did you … I mean … Merlin's … _don't ever do that again._' Ron turned from confused to angry.

'Didn't you know, Weasel?' asked Draco arrogantly. 'If you touch Slytherin's statue, you become invisible. I thought _everyone_ knew that.'

'Shut up, Malfoy.'

Draco's eyes glittered dangerously. 'Let's get down to business, shall we?'

Ron sighed and nodded. 'You'd better not be having me on.'

'I saw how Potter ignored you. If I were you, I'd do something back to him.'

'Glad I'm not you're friend, then.'

'I think we should steal something of his.'

Ron sneered, trying not to think of the map and invisibility cloak squished in his pocket. 'He wouldn't even notice.'

'I noticed that Potter and Granger were ignoring you because of some book series they were talking about.'

'What are you getting at?' asked Ron.

'I think we should steal this series, just to see their reactions when they realise it's missing.'

A slow smile spread across Ron's face.

Malfoy continued, 'I'd enjoy it because I hate Potter, and you'd be getting revenge. So, is it a deal?'

Ron nodded, and held out his hand.

They shook on it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: Ron does the unthinkable…  
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, surprise, surprise  
A/N: Thanks to Toast7475, and Zire-7 :)**

When Ron arrived back at the dormitory, Harry was asleep, _Catching Fire _still open over his chest. Ron grinned. This was going to be easier than he thought. He crept over to Harry's bed as quietly as he could. _Creeeak. _Ron winced as a floorboard made a loud sound.

'Ron? Is that you?' It was Neville. Ron groaned inwardly.

'Yes, Neville,' he whispered, 'I'm just, um, going to the toilet.' He heard Neville slump back down into bed, and Ron waited still as a statue until he could hear Neville's snores. Then, he quickly grabbed the book, and walked fast down the stairs into the common room. Now came the hard bit. He had to get the two remaining books from the girl's dormitory. Boys couldn't get in there, so Ron would have to use magic.

The summoning charm had always been Ron's weak point (well, really, truthfully, charms in general were always Ron's weak point), so he was hoping that he might get lucky. He had to be quick, Malfoy was waiting outside the common room, because Ron had refused to tell him the password. He didn't quite trust Malfoy yet.

He was going to get all the books, then give them to Malfoy, who would take them back to his dormitory, where he would place them under a spell that would not allow them to be summoned by magic again.

'_Accio_ Hermione's books,' Ron said softly. Ron heard a faint noise, becoming louder by the second, coming towards him. _Yes! _He thought, _it worked! _

A second later, his only thought was _shit_ as about 150 books came flying towards him, knocking him over with a _thump_. He had accidentally summoned all of Hermione's books at once.

Ron slowly got up, with a rustling noise that only 150 books can make falling off someone's body. Then Ron realised this could work to his advantage. What if, he not only got rid of three of Hermione's books, but _all _of them! Ron laughed out loud. He decided not to tell Malfoy. Then, if Malfoy betrayed him, he wouldn't know that Ron had destroyed _all_ of Hermione's books.

He searched the massive pile until he found the two books he needed, _the Hunger Games _and _Mockingjay_. He put them aside with _Catching Fire_. Then, Ron built up the fire, and a few at a time, burnt all of Hermione's books up. It took a long time, and Ron was enjoying it so much, that he nearly forgot about Malfoy waiting for him. Cursing, Ron stood up from watching the last remains of Hermione's books fall to ashes, and grabbed the three remaining books. Fighting the urge to chuck them in the fire also, Ron carried them out of the portrait hole, where a very angry Malfoy was waiting.

'_What took you so long?'_ he asked furiously. 'I've been waiting here for two hours!'

'I, um, had trouble with the summoning charm,' lied Ron.

'You should have let me in there!' shot back Draco, 'I would have done it in an instant!'

Malfoy snatched the books off Ron and stormed off, back to the dungeons. Somehow, he managed to storm off quietly and still communicate his anger. Ron was impressed.

A few minutes later, Draco sighed as he sat down in his dormitory on his bed. He lovingly caressed the cover of _the Hunger Games_, the book he had wanted to read for ages. His parents had forbidden it, being a Muggle-written novel. He finally had it! That idiot Weasley, thought it was revenge.

That idiot was lying in his bed. _Yes! He had done it. _He shivered to think of Hermione's reaction in the morning. _Oh God, _he thought, _what have I done?_


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really sorry about the delay in updating. I know it's not really an excuse, but I've got a lot on at the moment and don't have much time on my hands.  
Thanks again to Zire-7, and also to Amylovesthg and Wonderfully Random. Your reviews really do make a difference to my day :)  
Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

Hermione woke up at 7:30 in the morning, as always, her hand reaching out to stroke her beloved collection of books. It was difficult, transporting them to and from Hogwarts every year, but she normally got them sent by wizard removalists on broomsticks with undetectable extension charms. Of course Hermione could do these charms herself, but she wasn't allowed to do magic out of school yet, and preferred not to have the trouble.

Her fingers touched the wood of the bookshelf, provided by Professor McGonagall, who had sympathised with the young witch who needed somewhere to put her books. The Professor had probably had the same problem when she herself had been at school.

When Hermione reached for the books lining the shelf, her fingers were met with nothing at all, just air. She sat up with a start, eyes wide open. She looked at the brown shelves, and stared for a couple of seconds.

Hermione began to hyperventilate, then screamed. Over and over again, she couldn't be stopped. Pavarti, Lavender and the other girls in the dormitory gathered around Hermione, trying to calm her down.

'My books …' she managed to get out, 'they're all gone.'

Hermione tried to stand up, but felt so dizzy that her knees buckled and she went into a dead faint on the ground.

Two minutes later Professor McGonagall was in the dormitory trying to revive Hermione.  
'Hermione!' she said sharply. 'Get up now!' Hermione stirred vaguely. Eyes still shut, she began to sob uncontrollably.

* * *

20 minutes later, she was still sobbing. Everyone else had fled to breakfast, she had wanted to be alone. Briefly, her crying was interrupted as she whispered to herself, 'I will find them. Whoever took my books. And they will die a painful _death_.'

Almost automatically, Hermione's feet carried her off to the library. She began to browse through some advanced books, looking for the right one. There were heaps of books, from appearance changing to cursing to household charms useful in everyday living. Finally Hermione reached a book that looked promising. _Pursuing and Perceiving; People, Places and Possessions_ by J. Tracker. It was perfect. Just what she needed.

After borrowing the heavy tome, Hermione rushed back up to her dormitory and opened the book, smoothing back the pages, swallowing a sob after looking at the sad, empty bookshelf. She flicked through the book to the chapter she needed.

_Chapter 8, Tracking Missing Belongings_, was the title at the top of the page. The chapter was fairly short compared to the others, but useful all the same. The text on the page was printed in a fancy font, almost condescending. Hermione could imagine the type of person who'd write such a thing.

_Are you a careless, thoughtless person? Misplace things easily? Then this is the chapter for you! We will explain how to relocate lost objects. Now first of all, the charm performed here is fairly advanced. Maybe have a bit of a think about where you might have put this object before attempting the spell. It requires at least 6th year Charms knowledge. _(Pfff, thought Hermione, she was sure it's not that hard._) _  
_All right. Ready to begin? Great! _  
_Step one: pick up your wand. We find this is a great place to start. _  
_Step two: Guide the wand in two small circles anti-clockwise, starting at the top. _  
_Step three: Say these words, 'Relocatum prestimo (add the word for what you need to find here).' _  
_If this has worked, your wand should be pointing in the direction your object(s) is/are. Follow the direction of your wand, and you should be led to what you need.*_

Hermione smiled. It looked easy enough. She picked up her wand from the bedside table, then lifted it, performing two full circles. Then, '_relocatum prestimo_ my books.' Her wand suddenly shot upwards, pointing directly up. Hermione frowned. This was not what she needed. Her books couldn't be in the air! Then she read the footnote at the bottom of the page.

_*If your wand points upwards, this is a bad sign because this means that your object is destroyed beyond repair._

Hermione took a quick breath in. Her books. They were destroyed. Her breathing became deeper. She gripped the book in front of her, the mocking sight of what she needed most. Hermione's fingers unthinkingly turned pages, holding onto her last reminder of what she'd lost. As she glanced down, she saw the title of the page she was currently on.

_Chapter 14, Identifying Thieves. _  
_This chapter will teach how to identify thieves and criminals. If your belongings have been stolen, this will help you to find the miscreant who brought about your troubles. Warning: this is advanced magic. If you are unsure of your capabilities as a magician, it is best to consult magical Healers before attempting this spell. _  
_Step one: Make sure you are holding your wand in your left hand, no matter which hand you favour. _  
_Step two: Picture clearly in your mind whatever has been stolen from you. Try to picture as many small details as possible, as this makes the spell work best. Once this is in your head, focus upon it, and every aspect of it. _  
_Step three: Now stare at your wand and imagine your stolen item blossoming from the tip in a cloud of swirly grey mist. _  
_Step four: Say these words while raising your wand slowly upwards into the air, from your legs to as high as your arms can reach: 'Entellus partum.' _  
_Step five: Close your eyes and the face of the person who took your belongings will be clear in your mind._

Eagerly, Hermione performed these actions. As she reached step five, she closed her eyes and at once, a face was present in her thoughts. She gasped.  
'Harry Potter!'


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, thanks for reading! I'm sorry for not updating too recently; I've been terrible at updating lately. **

**Thanks to TheFluffiestUnicorn (AKA Wonderfully Random), who gave me the idea for this chapter, also to harrypotterhungergames and Zire-7. You guys are so cool. You have no idea how much your kind comments mean to me. **

'_How dare you, Harry James Potter, do such a thing?' _Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs. She shook him with each syllable she pronounced, and Harry looked more and more shocked with each word.

'B-b-but, but I-' he stuttered. Hermione was scary when she was angry.

'YOU STOLE MY BOOKS, NOW GIVE THEM BACK THIS INSTANT!' Hermione's look shot daggers at Harry.

'I d-don't know wh-what-' he began again.

'TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!' Hermione screeched.

'Hermione!' said Harry loudly, finally getting a control over his speech. 'I don't know what you're talking about. I _don't_ have your books.'

_'_What.' said Hermione blankly. 'Yes, you really do. I did the spell you know.'

'What spell?' asked Harry. 'I promise you, Hermione, I didn't take your books.'

To Harry's surprise, Hermione burst into noisy tears. It seemed she had wanted this answer. 'I knew you hadn't done it Harry, I knew! Just my charm thing, it told me _you_ did it. I just thought I should check.'

Harry awkwardly patted Hermione on the back. 'Erm, it's okay.' he said. 'I forgive you.'

20 minutes later, several explanations later, Harry fully understood what was going on.

Now that Hermione was a little calmer, he thought he might push his luck and try asking a question.

'So, why do you think your charm told you it was me who took your books?'

Hermione looked at Harry happily. 'I think I know!' she said. 'Well, the spell wanted me to picture the thing that was missing, right?'

'Yeah,' said Harry.

'And I pictured _the Hunger Games_, because I was kind of thinking about that at the time…' Hermione was sounding a bit excited.

'Okay,' said Harry, still not getting the gist of it.

'Oh, isn't _it obvious?_' asked Hermione. 'The spell said it would show me the person who took my belongings!'

'Yes!' said Harry, understanding. 'And that was me, because you lent me it!'

'So it's not you!' said Hermione. 'I'm so glad.'

'Speaking of who it is,' said Harry. 'I think we should try and figure out who took them. But first, I think we should go down to breakfast.'

Harry and Hermione arrived at breakfast a little late. They didn't notice the absence of Ron, so busy were they trying to identify the thief of Hermione's books. But one thing didn't escape them.

Whispers were being flung around the giant room faster than Bludgers in a Quidditch game. Harry looked around him. He could hear faint mutterings all along the table. Suddenly, Seamus leant across the table to tell Harry.

'Look at him,' he hissed. 'Draco Malfoy.'

Harry turned to stare across at the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy was sitting, staring straight ahead, unregistering the comments being made of him. He was making no attempt to hide what he was doing.

'Is he-?' Harry began to ask incredulously.

'Yes,' whispered Seamus. '_Crying!'_

Sure enough, small tears were rolling down Malfoy's face, dripping onto the table steadily. Goyle and Crabbe, sitting across the table from him, had puzzled expressions on their faces; the sort of expressions they generally had when asked a question in class.

Hermione had also noticed Malfoy's state. As Harry turned around to see Hermione's reaction, however, she was no longer in her seat. She was halfway across the room, heading towards Malfoy.

Hermione had seen on the table in front of Malfoy what Harry had not. A gleam. A gleam of red and black.

Hermione marched up to Draco Malfoy. She yanked the book off the table and said loudly to Malfoy, '_What is this?'_

Malfoy twitched slightly, and mumbled something.

'What?' said Hermione, confused.

'Rue…' she heard him whisper. 'Rue.'

Hermione grabbed _the Hunger Games, _picked up Draco Malfoy by the elbow, and to the surprise of everyone watching in the room, dragged the two of them promptly from the Hall, outside.

Harry dropped his fork halfway to his mouth. _What the _hell _was going on? _


End file.
